Implementation of a Social Safety team at the "Drachenfest"

Abstract

A social safety team, called “social harassment support team,” found implementation at the “Drachenfest,” one of the largest European larp events with around 5,000 participants. Such a team seemed necessary due to an increasing societal awareness of problematic social behavior and thus, an amplified demand for a solution to deal with such issues at larps. The “Drachenfest” as a unique and challenging environment called for the implementation of something not yet described in earlier research about social safety.

This paper will detail the implementation of a social safety team as a best practice example. It will consider questions of how to put such a team together and how to write an accompanying code of conduct. The paper also describes standard procedures for the work of such a team. The team performed admirably but still offered valuable lessons for improvement. The paper seeks to illustrate these lessons to strengthen attempts at implementing social safety teams at other events.